Juggling energies is what has popped up for me.
I have been doing a lot of long-distance traveling and local running this summer laced with good times as well as stress. From a family lake house in New Hampshire to Asheville supporting a family-member’s surgery, to West Virginia preparing for a trip abroad.
Just the other day I was headed for the grocery store, stopping in town to do errands, and watching the clock for an upcoming appointment. Sitting outside the post office I found myself accepting the fact that the shopping would have to wait. If I tried to get there now, I would be late for the appointment which took priority.
Juggling Needs Balance
Rather than tension arising from not accomplishing my aim of picking up groceries, relief flooded into me. The energy of doing was tempered with the energy of acceptance. It was a taste of a knew reality: I don’t have to operate this way; I am not as swift and sure as I used to be. It’s ok to slow down.
The fact that I could let go of a given task in the middle of performing it and know that it was the right choice to make, carried freedom. I hope to retain that sense of discernment, the ability to juggle my energies, to not fall prey to ticking off the to do list no matter what. This is work for me.
Experiencing the Flow of Balanced Energies
As I move into my later years, I appreciate a flow that feels right when I am in it. There are the tasks that need to be attended to; the appointments to keep; the recreation that spices life. Yet there is also the need to quiet down, slow the pace, and allow.
Jack and I experienced this while visiting my sister and her husband on our way home from NH earlier this month. We both remarked afterwards how they seem to have drawn-in, in a good way. After years of planning, they have finally moved to their New York State country home as their one abode. They are at peace with no-longer wishing to take long car trips or travel via air. As gardeners, they share an interest and serenity in strolling their country lane, digging up wildflowers and establishing natural, perennial gardens around their house. They are creating an active but circumspect rhythm to their life.
I am not quite there, but I see value in attuning myself towards the juggling of energies as an act of balance, rather than of accomplishment. Knowing when to push through, when to sit back as an art. Letting the doing and the letting-go flow around each other. Stopping when it’s time to stop. Focusing on a sense of right timing, right life. Juggling energies.